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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27293308">Healing Takes a Bit of Magic</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fandomsunderthesun/pseuds/Fandomsunderthesun'>Fandomsunderthesun</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Goblins and Spells [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Day 5: Magic, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Inspired By Tumblr, Inspired by Fanart, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Not Beta Read, Pre-Series, Pre-Wizards, Romantic Fluff, Zouxie Week 2020</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:15:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,636</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27293308</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fandomsunderthesun/pseuds/Fandomsunderthesun</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Douxie stood in front of her with a sheepish smile, which Zoe would have found endearing had it not been for the dirt and grime that covered his dishevelled hair and clothes. She looks him up and down, noting the shallow cuts and darkening bruises on his face and arms, as well as the fact that he was holding his side as if it hurt.</p>
<p>“<em>Where is his sweatshirt?</em>” Zoe wonders as she catches sight of Archie at Douxie’s feet, looking just as dishevelled as his wizard with bloody, tangled fur and broken glasses.</p>
<p>“Hey Zoe, how it’s going?” Douxie asks with a half-hearted laugh, as if he hadn’t just turned up at her door looking like an absolute mess. </p>
<p>“Hisirdoux Casperan," Zoe mutters, looking very unimpressed, "What the hell <em>happened</em> to you two?" </p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Archie &amp; Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan, Archie &amp; Zoe (Tales of Arcadia), Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan &amp; Zoe, Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan/Zoe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Goblins and Spells [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2003587</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Healing Takes a Bit of Magic</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This fic has been sitting around in my docs for a while now, and I've decided to use Zouxie Week 2020 as an excuse to finally post it. So here's my submission for Zouxie Week 2020 Day 5: Magic.</p>
<p>Note: This is part two of the series "Goblins and Spells." It can be read as a stand-alone, but I highly recommend you check out part one first which was written by my sister.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After a long shift in dealing with annoying and infuriating customers, Zoe wishes to crawl into bed and sleep for the next two centuries. Getting up from the sofa, she starts heading to her bedroom for some much-needed rest, only to be interrupted by a knock on the door.</p>
<p>“You have <em>got </em>to be kidding me,” Zoe groans, turning to face the door with a scowl. </p>
<p>She pauses for a minute, silently waiting for the person at the door to get the message and leave, but again she hears the sound of someone knocking on the door.</p>
<p>"Who in their right mind is knocking on the door this late at night?" Zoe wonders aloud as she reluctantly heads for the door.</p>
<p>She grabs hold of the door handle, ready to give the idiot who thought it was a good idea to bother her at this hour a piece of her mind. But all the harsh words on the tip of her tongue vanish as she forces the door open and recognizes who had shown up at her doorstep.</p>
<p>Douxie stood in front of her with a sheepish smile, which Zoe would have found endearing had it not been for the dirt and grime that covered his dishevelled hair and clothes. She looks him up and down, noting the shallow cuts and darkening bruises on his face and arms, as well as the fact that he was holding his side as if it hurt.</p>
<p><em> “Where is his sweatshirt?” </em> Zoe wonders as she catches sight of Archie at Douxie’s feet, looking just as dishevelled as his wizard with bloody, tangled fur and broken glasses.</p>
<p>“Hey Zoe, how it’s going?” Douxie asks with a half-hearted laugh, as if he hadn’t just turned up at her door looking like an absolute mess. </p>
<p>“Hisirdoux Casperan," Zoe mutters, looking very unimpressed, "What the hell <em> happened </em> to you two?" </p>
<p>Douxie looks between her and the ground, almost embarrassed, "Well ... Archie and I <em> may </em> have gotten into a bit of a scrap with some blood goblins.”</p>
<p>“Blood goblins,” Zoe repeats, staring at him in disbelief before shifting her gaze down to Archie, hoping he would have a better explanation. </p>
<p>“We were heading home from the cafe when we ran into some blood goblins in the alleyway,” Archie explains thankfully, coming up to rub against her legs. Zoe picks him up, careful of his injuries, and absently strokes him.</p>
<p>Zoe tilts her head and looks questioningly in Douxie's direction, “Aren’t blood goblins supposed to live in the darklands?” </p>
<p>Douxie shrugs gingerly, but answers, “I guess some must have gotten loose somehow.”</p>
<p>“In any case,” Archie speaks up from his spot in Zoe’s arms, “I think it best we get patched up first before we worry about how they got into Arcadia.” </p>
<p>“Right, let’s get you two fixed up” Zoe agrees, turning and walking back inside with the talking cat-dragon still in her arms. Douxie follows behind her, a small smile on his lips.</p>
<p>“So Doctor Zoe, what do you want me to do?” He teases, his smile widening as Zoe glances at him from over her shoulder.</p>
<p>“Sit down somewhere while I grab the first aid kit,” Zoe instructs, gently setting Archie down on the sofa before heading to the bathroom.</p>
<p>With the first aid kit in hand (along with a cone she found from when Archie had fleas), Zoe walks into the living room and sees Douxie sitting on a stool, Archie lounging on his lap. She looks at him for a moment, admiring the soft look on his face as he strokes Archie with his free hand, the other still holding his injured side.</p>
<p>She sighs softly, Archie's ears perking at the sound and he looks up from where he was resting on Douxie's thigh. Amusement grows on Zoe's face as she watches the cat's eyes widen in surprise at the sight of the cone.</p>
<p>"Oh no, I <em> refuse </em>to wear that thing again, no thank you" Archie shouts, his fur bristling with disapproval.</p>
<p>Douxie chuckles at Archie's dramatic display. "Come on Arch, it's not that bad,” he says, trying to calm his annoyed familiar.</p>
<p>“You try wearing a cone around your neck for a week, and <em>then </em>try to tell me that,” Archie retorts, his tail swishing back and forth in irritation. </p>
<p>Zoe crosses the room to them, trying not to laugh as she watches the wizard and familiar bicker with each other. </p>
<p>“Hate to break this up, but I’m afraid you don’t have much of a choice, furball,” Zoe kneels and places the first aid kit on the floor, opening it to reveal an assortment of medical supplies, including some with more <em>mystical </em>properties. </p>
<p>With a bit of coaxing, Zoe manages to put the cone on Archie and clean his bloody cuts before applying a healing salve to prevent infection and increase the healing process. Then she takes some large, white bandages and places them over the cuts. Once she’s done with Archie, she turns to look at Douxie.</p>
<p>"Do you need help removing your shirt so I can take a closer look at your side?" She asks quietly, her eyes falling to his injured side as she speaks. </p>
<p>Douxie is silent for a moment, staring at his side with a grimace. Zoe watches silently as he heaves a sigh and mutters a curse under his breath.</p>
<p>Finally, Douxie speaks, “um…yeah, yeah that would probably be better.”</p>
<p>Zoe gets up and reaches out to grasp the hem of his shirt. Together they somehow manage, but she could see Douxie wince as he raised his arms to remove his shirt. She folds the shirt, places it near the first aid kit, and collects the things she needs to treat his injuries. She cleans the larger cuts on his arms and shoulders first, but decides to leave the smaller cuts alone for the moment. She puts healing salve on the wounds and wraps them in bandages, before moving to his side.</p>
<p>Hesitantly, she takes her hands and starts pressing against Douxie’s side gently, using a bit of her magic to feel for any broken ribs (which would be harder to mend with magic). Douxie grits his teeth, his face twisting in discomfort, but he doesn’t say a word. Fortunately, she finds that his ribs are only bruised, so she puts another type of healing salve on it and wraps more bandages around his chest and shoulder.</p>
<p>She turns and puts things back in the first aid kit, grabs Douxie’s shirt and hands it back to him as she rises from the ground. Douxie goes to put his shirt back on, the healing salve already numbing the pain, and he flashes a grateful smile in Zoe’s direction.</p>
<p>“Thanks a lot, darling, I don’t know what Arch and I would do without you.” Zoe chuckles, and moves closer to get a better look at the small cuts still present on his face and neck.</p>
<p>“You don’t have to thank me Doux, and you and Archie would probably be dead by now if it weren’t for me.” Douxie snorts but otherwise remains silent. “You’re lucky that I know some healing magic, but remember that my spells and potions can only do so much.”</p>
<p>Zoe pushes back his bangs with her hand in order to get a closer look at one of the cuts on his face, startling Douxie and causing him to avert his eyes, a crimson blush forming across his cheeks. Using her other hand, Zoe traces the cut lightly, a faint pink light emitting from her fingertips as the cut begins to fade away.</p>
<p>“Archibald! Don’t think I forgot about you. Cut that out!” Zoe narrows her eyes at the feline, who had been trying to stealthily remove the cone with his hind leg whilst the two were talking. </p>
<p>Archie huffs, and turns to look at her with an annoyed expression.</p>
<p>“While I appreciate the medical care, I do <em>not </em>appreciate this blasted torture device,” Archie tells her, his tail twitching as he watches her continue to heal the cuts on Douxie’s face and neck.</p>
<p>Douxie’s gaze shifts down to his familiar, his face still flustered by Zoe’s close proximity. “Archie, I will give you all the anchovies you want for a <em> week </em> if you just <em> behave." </em></p>
<p>“Two weeks and you've got a deal,” Archie replies smugly.</p>
<p>Douxie groans and Zoe laughs at the sight of her two age-old companions. <em> “They're idiots, but they're my idiots,” </em> she thinks fondly, leaning away from Douxie to admire her work. Douxie's face and neck were free of cuts now, as if they had never been there to begin with.</p>
<p>“There, all done. I'll put things away, so you two can make yourself comfortable,” Zoe picks up the first aid kit and upon hearing a hum of agreement from Douxie and a meow from Archie, she retreats to the bathroom.</p>
<p>The sight that greets Zoe upon returning to the living room nearly melted her heart. Douxie had sprawled out on the sofa, his long limbs dangling over the edge of the furniture. Archie had somehow curled up on his wizard’s stomach despite the cone around his neck, purring happily along with Douxie's snoring. Zoe tiptoes towards the sleeping wizard and familiar, picking up her wand from the coffee table along the way. With a flick of the wrist, a blanket floats and lands gently on the occupants of the sofa.</p>
<p>Zoe bends over and smiles adoringly at the peaceful look on Douxie's face. Slowly, she pushes his bangs back and leans in to kiss him softly on the forehead. </p>
<p>“Goodnight Douxie,” She murmurs.</p>
<p>She leans back and, with one last look, she turns and flicks her wrist again, dimming the lights. Moving away from the sofa, Zoe heads to her bedroom to finally get some much-needed sleep.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I originally wrote this after being inspired by Tenyai's art exploring Douxie and Zoe's relationship, which you can find <a href="https://tenyai.tumblr.com/post/626012999353843712/some-explorations-of-douxie-and-zoes-relationship">here.</a></p>
<p>I know that there wasn't much <em>magic</em> in this fic, but I needed an excuse to get off my butt and post this lol. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little fic and constructive criticism is greatly encouraged and welcomed!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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